Aluminum tubular fluid storage units have been used in the aerospace industry in a wide variety of applications for storing and maintaining toxic fluids in a safe manner. For example, aluminum tubular fluid storage units are used as a component in a wide variety of conventional type warheads.
Typical prior art aluminum tubular units consist of an aluminum cylindrical body filled with the fluid and capped at one or both ends with a respective aluminum end cap. In order to properly seal the end cap to the cylindrical body, holes are drilled through a portion of the end cap and pins are inserted within the holes to mechanically couple the end cap to the cylindrical body: In addition, mechanical seals are introduced between a shoulder of the respective end cap and the end of the cylindrical body.
Prior art aluminum tubular units suffer from many problems associated with the design and manufacturing techniques. These pins and seals add to the overall complexity of the design and add significant costs to the manufacturing process. Further, these pins and seals are potential sources for leakage, especially when the tubes are stored over long time periods. This leads to potentially costly in-service repairs.
It is thus highly desirable to alter the design or the manufacturing techniques of aluminum tubular units to address these concerns.